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We’ve done this cooking thing before, but we thought we’d, uh, kick it up a notch. Bwog obviously loves to eat, but there are others on campus with more refined palates. We turned to Matt Powell, a member of Columbia University Culinary Society, to guide us through gastronomy. Welcome to the return of Cooking with Bwog, Culinary Society-style. This week, Matt gives us an easy and delicious pasta dish that’ll last you a week, a margarita pie, and a drink ripped from the Great Gatsby that you can make with ingredients from the Greenmarket on 115th. We’re hoping to work more with the folks at the Greenmarket, but tell us what you’d like to see more and/or less of in the comments, and happy eating.

The Recipe of the Week: Pasta de Ricotta

This recipe only takes 30 minutes to cook and can last you the whole week.

Ingredients:

16 oz dried pasta
16 oz. Ricotta cheese
Olive oil
1 onion, sliced thinly
4 spicy Italian sausage links, casings removed
Sliced Almonds
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 C chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper to Taste (more…)

Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, Cooking with Bwog’s chef thought she’d bring you a few recipes for angry dateless people to cook on this special day.

Note: for locating the following ingredients, try here.

Lamb’s Heart

Lamb’s heart

Rosemary

Oregano

Garlic

Tin foil, an oven, and a pan

There are many ways to cook a lamb’s heart. Because the meat is not as tender, slow cooking usually works the best. If the hearts are whole, you can split them on one side, rinse and clean out blood clots and then season with rosemary, fresh garlic, and oregano. Then, wrap loosely with foil, making the wrap tight around the seams, and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours, checking the meat for tenderness and rawness. If you don’t have an oven, you can try simmering on the stove in water for the same amount of time, but some of the flavor will be lost.

You can also slice the heart thin and fry them quickly in olive oil, but it will be much tougher.

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Since putting something into an oven (virus infested or not) is really scary, this week’s installment of Cooking with Bwog brings you a few tried and true fudge recipes that you can make in the safety of not-your-oven.

Stove Fudge

3 packs (4 oz ea.) German sweet chocolate (break into bits)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 can sweetened and condensed milk

1 cup pecans or other nuts

2 teaspoons vanilla (not necessary if you don’t have it, rum is a good substitute)

More nuts to put on top (if you want)

Grease or butter of some kind

A sauce pan, a low dish, pan, or tupperware to put the fudge in, and a spoon

Butter a pan that you can pour the fudge into to set. Melt chocolate stuff in the saucepan over very low heat – make sure to stir. Remove from the heat and stir the condensed milk, nuts and vanilla. Pour into the greased pan and put it in the fridge until firm.

Even easier recipes after the jump!

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This installment of Cooking with Bwog may see a bit briefer than usual, but only because the recipe in question, Cookie Pizza, is profound enough stand on its own. If you can think of something more tasty, write it in the comments or send it along to bwgossip@columbia.edu.

Cookie Pizza – The simplest version

1 package of your favorite type of premade cookie dough (sugar cookie recommended)

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli morsels are available at MW’s)

1 small can of condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)

Your favorite candies: peppermint patties, peanut M&Ms, oreos, gummie bears, marshmallows, etc.

A pan for baking, an oven, and a microwave.

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Welcome to the next issue of Cooking with Bwog, where we bring you a few recipes made easier by the fact that many of the ingredients come from a can. If you have any dorm-style or Columbia-style cooking inspirations and would like to share with Bwog’s culinary team, or you have a mind-bwoggling cooking dilemma, send us an email at bwgossip@columbia.edu!

Over break, Bwog’s chef stuck around the Columbia kitchens to try out some of the more risky and exciting recipes in her notebooks. She also got a little lazy. Here’s a little taste of some of the more fruitful experiments.

Chili

This is a variation on the conventional cook-it-in-a-pot chili recipe. You need a can of black beans, a can of corn, some onion, butter or oil, pasta sauce, cheese, and some taco seasoning. To cook, you need a spoon, a frying pan, and a knife. This recipe is for one person.

Turn the pan on medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil or butter, wait for it to melt and spread, then chop about one eighth of your onion and add it to the pan. Sautee for three to five minutes or until the onion is clear. Add a sprinkling of taco seasoning at this point, about a teaspoon will do. Then open the cans of corn  and black beans and spoon equal amounts of these into the pan (about as much as you want to eat). Stir, and as soon as these are warm (after about a minute) lower the heat and add a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce. Once this is mixed in and warmed up, the chili is done! Just add shredded cheese of your choice on top, and save the left-over ingredients for next time. If you feel like spicing it up, add some tabasco sauce, red pepper flakes, or get a really spicy taco seasoning.

Pumpkin pie and pasta sauce after the jump!

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